Carl Sandberg house and the hilly hiking trails

I am embarrassed it took me so long to make it out to the Carl Sandberg house in Flat Rock.  For two years I have been saying I wanted to go and when Scott lived in Hendersonville he was only one mile away; we always talked about going.  I am also embarrassed that I didn't know who Carl Sandberg was until I drove by his house several years ago, but isn't that why you visit houses and museums like this...to learn?

Goat barn view coming off of the trail

This morning I woke up and decided I would head out that way and try out their trails; I didn't go into the house because I am saving that for when Scott and I can experience it together.  I did walk around the house and read about Carl Sandberg.  I visited the goat house and barn area, lots of fun if you have little kids!  But the trails...WHEW!  They kicked my butt.

Pretty lake near the parking area

I hiked Glassy Mountain trail and some connectors to make four miles out of it, with a 873 foot elevation gain.  It was a hot and muggy morning and I had to stop at a bench on the way up because I was feeling a little light headed. The hills on the way up are no joke! Once at the top there is a flat balsam with a pretty view of the tall trees and I (think) Hendersonville.  Lots of people on this trail, very active with morning walkers and dogs.  Everyone was so friendly, waving and wishing 'good day!'

I definitely want to go back, loved exploring this area and learning more about Carl Sandberg.

Lots of goats for people to play with

Bearwallow Mountain and the Cows...

View from the Top of Bearwallow Mountain

Today I headed up to Bearwallow Mountain, it's a hike that's only 30 minutes from my house between Asheville and Chimney Rock.  Even though the directions said not to use GPS it turned out to be really easy to find and was a very easy hike.  Just one mile up to the top where a bunch of cattle greeted us, as well as bunch of satellites from the 1980's.  It was such a beautiful view and I had it all to myself, just me and Baxter...and two other people enjoying their picnic lunch of sushi. It takes a lot of effort to go buy sushi and then hike it up the mountain one mile before it gets too warm to eat.

Drive up the mountain

Careful where you walk

Once at the top I roamed around the abandoned buildings before walking back down an unmarked road that led me back to the car.  I was looking for little Bearwallow Mountain trail but didn't find it...I did find Trombatore trail that I'll go back and hike, I would have done it today but it's five miles and I just didn't have the time since I was headed to Diamondbrand kayak days on Lake Julian.

Man, what a great day to explore. The weather was perfect and not a lot of other people out there.  Another thing checked off the list...

Max Patch and the Appalachian Trail

I have been wanting to hike this trail for 2.5 years since I first moved to Asheville. It's one trail everyone tells me about, it's easy to get up to the viewpoint and from there you can add on as much length as you want.  Today I finally got up early and made it to the trail head around 9:15 AM, it took me a little over one hour to get there from my house.  The last 30 minutes was a 4-wheel drive road, so I'm finally getting the use out of my CRV that I wanted 😃 The cloud cover was still all around so it was pretty to see it rise above the mountains, plus I had the area mostly to myself.  Just a few campers from last night that were leaving.  Camping up there sounds like a good idea, but it was really windy and 55 degrees when I set off so probably not on my bucket list.

On the AT overlooking the mountains

This summer I'm trying to do all new things in the WNC area that I haven't done before. I feel so lucky to live in an area that people come to vacation in, I really want to take advantage of living here and explore my own backyard.  I hiked the long loop around, plus up and down the N and S part of the Appalachian Trail and an out/back side trail called Buckridge Gap, which takes you to neither a ridge or a gap, making it a 10 mile trek.  I wasn't disappointed, here are a few of my photos...

Top of Max Patch

Drive up to Max Patch

I would suggest wearing hiking boots, I wore my Chaco's, even though I had a pair of hiking boots and a pair of North Face hiking shoes in the car.  It's a pretty muddy trail once you work your way down there.